electrical question

[l921428x]

I have lived in my home since Oct 1989. the other day I flipped a light switch for a ceiling fan w/ 4 15 watt bulbs, there was a 1 to 1.5 second delay before it came on. I noticed it and so did my wife.
Told her the switch must be going bad, changed out the switch, same thing, changed out that switch, same thing. This is a 15 amp GE breaker that only controls the fan and 2 60 watt bulbs in another part of the house. Thoughts. The breaker is turned off at this moment, but still I do not understand.

Electrical problems in a home can be VERY bad.

Any thoughts?

[Helen Keller]

the ceiling fan itself is probably crapping out .

[deth502]

the ceiling fan itself is probably crapping out .

^^^^^^^^^^^

[deth502]

otoh, the electricity in there is over 20 yrs old, it might just be slowing down. some new wiring with fresh new electrons in it might speed things up.

[Gunner1558]

otoh, the electricity in there is over 20 yrs old, it might just be slowing down. some new wiring with fresh new electrons in it might speed things up.



Somehow the wires got kinked and the electricity is having a hard time getting through.



I'd pull the fixture away from the ceiling and make sure the wiring is in good repair. Time plus heat from the bulbs and the vibrations from the fan can tend to do things that do not always end well.

As to the delay in response to the switch being turned on, I can only speculate. A new fixture would probably solve the problem.

[ltorlo64]

the ceiling fan itself is probably crapping out .

If I remember right these type of motors must have a capacitor to operate. Sounds like the capacitor is getting old so it takes longer to charge. It will be cheaper to replace the fan than the capacitor.

Also, are there any other problems in the house? If not, then the most likely source of the problem is the fan as the problem is localized to it. I would expect the fan will stop working in the near future and just hum because there is nothing to off set the single phase of voltage that runs it, so it will not spin.

[Sherman]

Turn off power. Temporarily take the fan down. Grab a digital multimeter switch at AC setting and hook up the leads to the power wires. Turn power back on at the breaker. Have wife flip the wall switch off and on looking for a delay in response.
If a delay is present, the fan is not at fault and something from the breaker to the fan is faulty.....continue investigating.
If no delay is present.......replace faulty fan.

[l921428x]

didn't think about the fan. ok a direction to head. thanx

[1 Patriot-of-many]

otoh, the electricity in there is over 20 yrs old, it might just be slowing down. some new wiring with fresh new electrons in it might speed things up. You can get them at your local electrical power supplier pretty cheap :)

[deth502]

Turn off power. Temporarily take the fan down. Grab a digital multimeter switch at AC setting and hook up the leads to the power wires. Turn power back on at the breaker. Have wife flip the wall switch off and on looking for a delay in response.
If a delay is present, the fan is not at fault and something from the breaker to the fan is faulty.....continue investigating.
If no delay is present.......replace faulty fan.

id do this with a pigtail (temporary light socket) instead of the meter. a meter will have a certain refresh rate and delay time to process the signal, and depending on how good your meter is, it will likely appear to be anywhere from a 1/4sec to up to a 1 second delay just for the meter to settle, giving a false indication of a delay.

[deth502]

but that said, like many have said, likely a problem at the fan. id guess a loose wire or dirty connection. depending on how comfortable and knowledgeable you are with it, you may be able to "rebuild" the fixture yourself. it is fairly easy. of course, it may just be the wires connecting to the fan loose, which would be a very simple fix. either way, you probably wont HAVE to replace the fixture unless you really want to and/or are just looking for an excuse for something new.

[L1A1Rocker]

Last month we were doing a big cleaning job in the kitchen. I pulled down the cover over the celing fan and found the ground wire almost chaffed all the way through. Hell, it's only be 17 years. . .

[l921428x]

otoh, the electricity in there is over 20 yrs old, it might just be slowing down. some new wiring with fresh new electrons in it might speed things up.

electrons, protons and fig neutrons. hmmmm k

[JTHunter]

Did the lights on the fan also delay coming on or just the fan?
How old is the fan and the fixture?
If it is a multispeed fan, are you starting it in low rather than high?

[l921428x]

the lights are what we turned on the fan is a 10 yr old hunter that has very few hours. the hunter fan we have in the bedroom runs 24/7 and has the whole 10 years.
just weird.

[mushroom]

Trying to understand.. you said lights had delay coming on.. I'm assuming incandescent and not florescent which would have slight delay.. so you changed switch.. then the switch again.. then you explained it was a breaker that served just that fixture.. did you change wall switch to the light or does it not have a switch other than the breaker? And that is what you changed? If you have a wall switch and didn't change it that may be it.. especially if it's a 3-way.. they are notorious for that. If you don't have a wall switch or have changed it.. It's probably a loose connection in the light kit.. usually the light kits are accessories that have a universal or proprietary plug to plug into the fan. My guess is wall switch or loose connection... or if the light kit has a pull chain switch.. that might be going bad.. Good Luck OH... also.. sometimes the tap of the neutrals gets loose.. be careful.. it will bite you too!!

[l921428x]

nope just the one switch, and I changed it twice with new switches I had for something else. the fan was off at the time and we were going just going to use the lights. it does have two pull chains on the fan one to control the lights and the other for the fan speed. off/on low medium and high. yep got bit already.